Health Department receives grant for student health centers

The Health Department of Northwest Michigan was awarded $141,853 in grant funding from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration to improve access to basic primary health care for school-aged children, many of whom have no other sources of care.

The funds, made available under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, support expanded capacity of school-based health centers and increase the availability, efficiency and quality of care for children and adolescents.

The funds are available for construction, renovation and equipment needs.

The Health Department of Northwest Michigan requested funding to renovate the Hornet Health Center in Pellston, to add a small group room and a second exam room in the clinic. Funds were also requested to purchase new equipment to replace outdated equipment at the Ironmen Health Center in Mancelona.

Finally, the money will go to the purchase of electronic medical record software for use at both student health centers.

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“This is great news,” said Patricia Fralick, director of family and community health services for the health department. “With this funding from HRSA, we’re able to make upgrades at our student health centers we could never afford with our current funding. Now, we’re able to build on our ‘bare bones’ operations to provide state-of-the-art primary care to students for many years to come.”

The School-Community Health Alliance of Michigan supports a network of more than 100 school-based and school-linked health centers and health education programs across Michigan.

The centers annually provide more than 300,000 health encounters/services. The centers are located in communities where the majority of children lack access to consistent, primary health care and as a result are at-risk of chronic health conditions and school failure.